The WADA Foundation Board heard a compliance update during its latest meeting in Paris ©ITG

The head of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) panel that oversees compliance and recommends sanctions against organisations who breach the code has resigned a year before the end of his mandate.

WADA director general Olivier Niggli revealed during the Foundation Board meeting here that Australian lawyer James Wood had stepped down from his role as head of the Compliance Review Committee.

Wood, chairman of the New South Wales Sentencing Council and a former head of the Law Reform Commission of New South Wales, had been appointed to the position in January 2020.

He replaced Britain's Jonathan Taylor, whose last act was to recommend Russia face a four-year package of sanctions stemming from the doping scandal, which were halved and significantly watered down by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Canada's Henry Gourdji, the vice-chair of the Committee, will complete the rest of Wood's term before a permanent successor is appointed following a vetting process carried out by WADA's Nominations Committee.

WADA director general Olivier Niggli, right, thanked James Wood for his work as head of the Compliance Review Committee ©Twitter
WADA director general Olivier Niggli, right, thanked James Wood for his work as head of the Compliance Review Committee ©Twitter

It was also confirmed here today that the National Anti-Doping Organisations (NADOs) in Greece, Latvia and The Netherlands had been removed from the compliance watchlist after correcting issues highlighted by WADA.

A total of 10 NADOs are still on the watchlist.

The Deaf International Basketball Federation has also been declared compliant with the Code.

But Indonesia, Thailand and North Korea remain non-compliant following a decision from the WADA Executive Committee in October.

WADA said today that Thailand had to urgently carry out two "corrective actions" in order to regain its status.